Ashbourne Triathlon Club member James Herrington is waiting for his chance to take on a cross-channel swim to raise funds for charity.

It could have happened already – but he could also have the call with less than eight hours’ notice if weather conditions offer a chance.

Either way, Herrington, 26, who lives in Derby, is hoping his challenge will come before the end of September, otherwise it will have to wait until another year.

He plans to swim from Dover to Cap Griz Nez – a crossing of 20.7 miles – to raise funds for Handicap International, a charity working in situations of poverty, exclusion, conflict and disaster.

His choice of charity and, indeed, his sports training have come as the result of a life-changing incident while travelling last year.

“While travelling in the Philippines last year, my girlfriend and I were involved in a fairly serious bus accident in which many people were left with life-changing disabilities,” he said.

“This experience, combined with our travels elsewhere, really highlighted the difficult situation that disabled people face in many developing countries.”

He and his girlfriend escaped with only minor injuries.

“The fact that, had I not been so lucky, I likely wouldn’t have been able to attempt my swim, made raising money for a charity like Handicap International, that helps people with disabilities, an obvious choice,” he added.

Since he was 13, he has dreamed about completing tough and inspiring challenges.

“As a kid I had lots of grand ideas but at the time they weren’t exactly realistic,” he said.

“But while at university I had the opportunity to climb Kilimanjaro, something I’d dreamed about since he was a boy.

“It made me realise that childhood dreams were actually possible.”

Since then, Herrington has run multi-day adventure races across deserts and mountain ranges, completed several Ironman triathlons and learnt to skydive: “all things that 13-year-old me dreamed of doing,” he added.

The Channel swim seemed a natural progression.

Herrington’s training has been supervised by the Ashbourne club’s head triathlon coach, Stephen Greene, from Hognaston.

“James has been incredibly determined and focused on his goal and it’s been a pleasure and incredibly motivational to see how much hard work he has put in and how dedicated he has been,” said Greene.

“James is truly inspirational but also incredibly modest about what he has taken on.

“Having been involved in endurance sport and training for many years myself, it’s hard to comprehend just how hard a channel swim is.

“Apart from the fact you are on your own swimming in very cold water for many, many hours the pressure on the muscle joints, heart and lungs is massive, plus you have to contend with tides, ships and debris of all types.

“Not many people know you aren’t allowed to touch the safety boat at all and you only have about 30 seconds to take on food and drink every so often.

“James’s dedication should be recognised by the local community and the best way to support him would be to support his charity.”

“There have been plenty of highs and lows and it has definitely been my toughest challenge to date but I’m really happy with the amount of training I've done and the progress I’ve made,” added Herrington.

One of the biggest challenges he faces is the cold. Therefore, he has gained two-and-a-half stones in weight, spent all winter in shorts and t-shirts and he even put up a large paddling pool in his garden over winter so that he could acclimatise to the cold.

“The coldest temperature I swam in during training was two degrees,” he said. “Recently I’ve been training as much as possible in Dover to get used to long swims in the sea. I also completed an overnight channel distance swim in a lake in June which was great mental preparation.”

Herrington is aiming to raise £1,000. For more information on the challenge and the charity, or to donate, visit James' fundraising page here.

* Weather permitting, still, Herrington has now been told his swim could be this weekend